Bonesology Summer Challenge
by bamboo72498
Summary: Responses to each week's prompt. Will cover multiple seasons, characters, and relationships. Hopefully something for everyone!
1. Week 1

**A/N: Hey, Nerds! So this is the first week of the Bonesology Summer challenge. Thanks to the people who run that site for giving us fodder to keep writing.**

 **This weeks prompt is "Never let the words 'I love you' go unsaid" This chapter takes place around 2x14 'The Man in the Mansion'**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

"Ange, come on!" The echo of the words, said almost in a whine, brake the comfortable silence of the lab in the morning. Cam walks out in time to see Angela closing all of the curtains to her office.

Hodgins, still standing at the closed door to his girlfriend's office, turns and meets her eyes. "I don't get it," he says, waving a hand, "I truly don't get it."

"What happened?" She asks, coming closer, her heels clicking on the floor, crossing her arms over her chest.

"We had a fight last night and she's still pissed off at me."

"Did you apologize?" Cam questions with a raised eyebrow.

"Why do you automatically assume it was my fault?" Jack cries, offended.

"Because if this had been Angela's fault, it would have been resolved last night and you two would come in here all happy and glowy like always." When he doesn't speak for a moment, she knows she's hooked him.

"I thought I did," Hodgins confesses, voice quiet now.

"You didn't do it right. You of all people should know what sometimes just saying "I'm sorry" isn't enough. Sometimes you gotta go beyond that; make her feel special."

"Yeah," he says, furrowing his brow, already in thought.

"If you don't fix this by the end of the day, you will have more than just Angela wishing horrible things upon you."

[] []

Hours later, Cam pushes away from her desk, where she had been pouring over emails and paperwork, and leaves her office. She crosses the lab floor, watching as techs scurry around, and stops at Angela's office door. The blinds are still pulled closed, but when she tries the door, Cam is happy to find that it isn't locked.

"Go away!" Angela hollers, noticing someone entering her office. "Oh. It's you."

Cam goes further into the room, watching as her colleague scribbles harshly on a page in her sketchbook. There are similar drawings on the floor around her, obviously in an attempt to dispel her still annoyed mood. "Are you buying stock in 'Crayola Colored Pencils' now?" she asks, trying to make her friend smile.

"No," Angela chuckles, seeing the humor in her current situation. "I thought this might help, but I guess it's not working."

"You should sign these, they might be worth a lot someday," Cam says, picking up one of the scribbles done in a light pink color.

"Did you just come in here to talk about my scratch paper?"

"No! I actually wanted to ask you if I could borrow your printer. Maintenance still hasn't come to fix mine yet."

"Oh, yeah, sure," Angela nods.

"Thanks." Came turns to leave, but stops short. "What did Hodgins do to get you so pissed? It must have been more than leaving the toilet seat up."

Angela doesn't talk for a moment, busying herself putting her colored pencils away just so. "It started that way," she starts quietly. "But you're right: it's more than just something stupid." Her brow furrows as if she's still not sure if the words she's thinking are the ones she wants to say. "How could he do that? Hide evidence and risk our integrity?"

"He knew that if that evidence got out, he'd be suspect number one," Cam replies, reiterating facts she knew Angela already knew.

"I know. But he lied to me. I just don't get why he felt he had to do that."

There it was. Now Cam understood: Angela was hurt that it seemed her boyfriend didn't trust her enough to tell her he was friends with the victim.

"Did you tell him that?"

"No."

"You know, he may be smart, but Jack Hodgins is no mind reader. He's out there thinking he really messed up."

Angela's face falls and a second later, she stands from her desk and leaves her office, making a beeline for Hodgins' desk.

"Hey," she starts.

"Hey," Jack replies, not meeting her eyes.

"Can I talk to you?"

He finally looks up, and from the look on his face, she can tell he's just as hurt as she is. "Look, Ange, I'm sorry. I know you like to sleep in the dark, but I need a light and-"

"I know," she interrupts. "It's not about that. I'm sorry I snapped at you."

"It's not? Then what?"

"You know you can trust me, right?"

"Yeah, of course."

"Then why did you do that? Why did you think you had to hide something from me?"

"Do what? I never-. Oh. Oh, Angela." Now she's the one not meeting eyes. "Hey," he uses a hand to lift her face to his. "I'm sorry. I got scared. I didn't know what to do or what to think. I just did it. And I should have come to you."

"Yeah. You should have."

"And I know that now. I'm sorry."

"I know you are. It just hurt that you thought you couldn't trust me when things got bad."

"I know."

"Promise me something, okay?"

"Okay."

"That you'll always come to me. No matter what. We'll figure it out together, okay?"

"Okay," he smiles. "I love you."

"I love you too." She kisses him once, a hand on his cheek. "Come on, do something productive, or Cam's gonna ground us both."

"Okay," he chuckles, turning back to his computer, looking up as Angela walks back into her office, leaving the door open and the blinds up; no longer upset.


	2. Week 2

**A/N: Here is week two! The prompt was 'I'm not scared of anything'. I figured since my last chapter was Hodgela centric, I thought I'd level the field and give you nerds something with the Booth family.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

The day of the annual First Grade field trip had arrived, and Christine Booth was very excited.

"And we're gonna get to see the penguins and the hippos. Oh! And, Mommy! Chloe went with her class last week and she said they have this thing at the lion exhibit where you stand under this thing and it looks like you're actually out there with the lions! Oh, Mommy, can I do that? Please?"

Brennan chuckles as her daughter happily wiggles in front of her. She holds Christine steady with a hand and takes another section of her hair with the other. "We'll see, sweetheart. Now hold still or your braids won't be even."

"Sorry. I'm just so excited!"

"I know you are," Brennan smiles. She finishes braiding the rest of her daughter's hair and then places the hairbrush on top of Christine's dresser. "There: all done. Finish getting dressed and then come have some breakfast, okay?"

"Okay," Christine answers, plopping down on her bed to put on socks and shoes.

Brennan pauses in the doorway, making sure Christine is trying her shoes correctly, and sure that she is, she leaves the room and heads for the kitchen.

"Mama!" Hank cheers from his high chair, waving his fork around.

"Hey, buddy," Brennan says, going to him. She takes the fork from his hand a spears another bite before handing it back.

"And a high energy breakfast for my first explorer," Booth grins at her, setting at a plate of the same eggs, toast, and sausage he made for the rest of them in front of Brennan as she sits at the bar in front of him.

"Booth! That isn't-"

"No. It's that tofu stuff you like," he answers, knowing her question.

"Well thank you," Brennan says, digging into her breakfast.

"Gotta get energy for your big trip today. Oh, I am so jealous of you, Bones! You know they just redid their monkey exhibit, right? I'm so mad you get to see it first."

"Well, if you would rather go instead. I'm sure I could jump back into our current case."

"No, no, no! You're not weaseling your way out of this one. You promised Christine you would go, you can't back out. You said you would spend the day with her and not with work. The Squints back at the lab can handle it for a day."

Just then, Christine rushes in, a wide smile on her face.

"Hey, Monkey! Come eat. I was just telling Mommy that you both have to get some good energy for your trip today," Booth says to his daughter.

"Daddy? Can't you and Hank come too?" Christine asks, sullen, digging into her food.

"No, I have to go to work and you brother would just be bored the whole time. Besides, you don't wanna have your little brother there embarrassing you in front of you friends, right?"

"Yeah. I'm just sad you're gonna miss it!"

"I know you are. I'll tell you what: when you come home tonight, you can tell me all about it, okay? And then we'll go as a whole family really soon."

"Okay," Christine says, perking back up. "Mommy, you have you pack us lunch, remember?"

"I know. I was just about to do that," Brennan nods, standing. She puts her plate in the sink and goes to the refrigerator. She's surprised to find two packed lunchboxes, Christine's monkey one she usually takes to school, and a blue one Brennan has had longer than she can remember, staring at her when she opens the door. "Booth? Did you do this?" She asks, wiping around to her husband. Booth smirks, nodding.

"Just call me 'Super Dad'," he gloats.

"What did you make?" Brennan asks, setting both out on the counter and starting to open one.

"Not-uh!" Booth shouts, slapping her hand away. "Don't look yet, It's a surprise. And I think you are going to like it," he says, pointing to his daughter who smiles and bounces in her seat.

Brennan eyes her husband for a minute, not sure whether to trust him.

"Come on, Bones! That's the fun part about field trips: eating a special lunch."

"Fine,": she resolves, handing Christine her bag. "Go put this into your backpack, please."

Fifteen minutes later, everyone in the Booth family was ready to go for the day.

"Bye, Daddy! Bye, Hank!" Christine cheers, hugging her dad and brother.

"Bye, Monkey. Have fun," Booth tells her, watching as she rushes to her mom's car and climbs into her seat. "Bye, mommy," Booth smiles to Brennan, stealing a kiss.

"Bye, baby," Brennan says, going first for her son, who reaches out for her and starts to whine, and then her husband, getting another kiss from him. "Love you."

"Love you too." One more kiss and then Booth heads for his truck and buckles Hank into his car seat before getting in himself. Both cars back out of the driveway at the same time, the boys going one way, and the girls in another.

[] []

Christine's entire class was dressed nearly identically: sneakers and the red t-shirt with 'Ms. Susan's First Grade' written on it. The only difference between the kids was the bottoms they wore; some wore jeans, others had shorts, Christine, for example, paired her shirt with black polka dot leggings and her favorite sparkly, pink sneakers. Another thing that was the same about the twenty-two first graders was that none of them were paying attention to the morning announcements playing on the TV in the front of the room. They were all talking and moving around; too excited to sit still.

When the announcements end, Ms. Susan moves to the front of the room and gets her student's attention by clapping a rhythm and having the repeat it. Once they are listening, she gives their next instructions. "Alright, the bus will be here soon, so when I tell you, I want you all to line up at the door." She gives the signal and her class lines up as quietly as any group of kids excited to go on a trip can. The head out to the waiting school bus and pile on. A trio of girls make a beeline for the very back seats and refuse to let anyone else sit back sits at the window sharing the seat across from her mom with her best friend Emma, and their other friend, Hazel, the little blonde girl who was so interested and inquisitive during Brennan's presentation during Career Day.

[] []

The drive to the zoo, though short, felt endless. Lots of talking and shouting, which gave Brennan the beginnings of a headache. Christine spent most of the drive talking and giggling with her friends, and at one point playing a hand-clapping game Emma had learned at Brownies. Brennan made awkward chit-chat with some of the other parents chaperoning the trip and managed to resist the urge to look text Angela for updates on the case.

"Look!" It's the zoo!"

"The Zoo!"

"We're here!"

Shouts rang through the bus as they pulled up to the front entrance of the zoo, and the adults struggled to keep the kids in their seats just a few moments longer. The driver stops right in front and smiles at the kids as they get off, jumping down the high step.

After collecting everyone, taking attendance one more time and splitting off into smaller groups, they were sent off to explore, their only instruction was to meet at the pavilion at one-thirty for lunch. Brennan leads her group, Christine, Hazel, Asher (a boy with brown hair and deep green eyes), Cody (a little black boy with glasses, who also answered a question during Career Day), and Emma.

"Mommy? How come we're not going to the elephants first?" Christine asks as they walk past the first exhibit.

"Because everyone goes there first and there will be a large crowd and hard to see. This way we'll see it later and be able to see better," Brennan explains.

"Oh, okay," Christine nods, taking Emma's hand and beginning to skip.

They spend some time with the American Bison, and even longer with the cheetahs. All the animals in the Asia area are a hit, especially the giant pandas, which turn out to be Cody's favorite animal.

"Mommy, look! The baby one is the same age as Hank!" Christine remarks, reading the information about the animals.

"I guess he is," Brennan laughs after reading the sign herself. "Come one, let's keep walking."

They go through the birdhouse and admire the pink flamingos and the vultures, which Brennan doesn't fail to tell her group that they are carrion and eat dead animals.

"That's gross," Asher says.

"No, it's not! Vultures eat the stuff the lions and cheetahs can't or don't eat," Christine says, trying to make it sound better for her friend.

They finally hit up the elephant area, and just like Brennan had said: the crowd was thinner and the little kids had no trouble getting right up to the fence to see the giant mammals. There was a zookeeper in the enclosure giving a talk and they stayed to listen a while. He gave all sorts of facts about elephants and gave them new toys to play with and treats to eat. Cody gets a coupon for a free ice cream fro answering a question, and Emma swears one of the elephants waved right at her.

"It was probably just a reflex. Come on, let's keep going," Brennan assures the girl, nudging them away from the elephants.

"No, it wasn't. He really did wave at me," Emma cries, stomping ahead of them. Christine follows, ready to make her friend feel better.

"Dr. Brennan? Are elephant bones like people bones?" Hazel asks, looking up at her.

"In a way, yes," Brennan start,s trying to explain it in a way the first grader will understand. "Elephant and human skeletons share similar structures like ribs and femurs, that's the large bone in your thigh, but they are also different."

"Oh," the girl replies. "It's cause we're mammals, right? And all mammals are kind the same and kinda different too."

"Yes, you could say that," Brennan nods. "Christine! Emma! Stay close, please!" she calls to the other girls, who stop and wait for them.

Hazel keeps up a constant stream of questions all the way to the Amazon Rainforest area. The temperature is instantly twenty degrees hotter and humid. They did a lap around the room, running into another group from their class in the process, checking out all the creatures.

"Dr. Brennan! They have a snake!" Cody happily cheers. "Can we go see it?"

"Of course you may," Brennan smiles, following her kids to where a zookeeper was surrounded by a group of people. In her arms was a very large black and brown snake.

"-And these Boa's can grow up to six feet long. This one isn't fully grown yet, he's only about three and a half feet long," The keeper says. She rattles off more facts about the snake, then says "If you would like to touch him, form a line right here. And I ask that you only use two fingers when you do, okay? We don't want him to get too scared."

"Mommy, are you coming?" Christine asks, getting into line behind her classmates to touch the snake.

"No, I'm going to wait right here. You go, I'll watch," Brennan smiles, trying not to let on that she was kind of scared of the snake. Not that it could really hurt her, small children were petting it after all, but just the idea of it made her cringe.

The line moved and each person took their turn. Christine squealed during her turn, a wide smile on her face

"Mommy! You have to try it! They're not slimy at all; they're smooth." Christine says, coming back to her.

"Yeah, you have too! It's cool," Emma agrees.

"No, I'm fine."

"Mommy," Christine meet her with a fierce look. "You have to face your fears head on. You have to go up to the snake and tell it 'you're not scary' and touch it and then it won't be scary anymore."

Brennan looks at her daughter, whose advice came directly from her father's mouth. She lets out a breath and smiles. "Okay. I'll do it."

The kids cheer for her and are so proud of Brennan when she touches the snake; it really isn't so bad, good even. She laughs at their behavior and rushes them from the room.

"You did it, Mommy!" Christine shouts back outside. "I'm so proud of you!"

[] []

At lunch, the class spread out along two picnic tables, adults at one end, kids on the other, and Brennan could instantly see the friendship and cliques that had formed. It amazed her that even at such a young age these kids had already formed a social hierarchy. Not much had changed since she was in school. The popular kids were still popular, and there was a group who didn't fit in anywhere.

"Mommy! It's pizza! Daddy packed us pizza!" Christine shouts to her, holding up her lunch.

"So it is," Brennan agrees, finding a similarly wrapped packed in her lunch bag. She watches her daughter talk and laugh with her friends, enjoying her special lunch and their amazing trip.

They all eat and enjoy themselves and eventually clean up to explore more.

There's a bit of time left after lunch and so Brennan and her group hit up the last few exhibits. The big cats are a hit, and Christine does get to crawl into the acrylic dome that makes it look at though she's right in the middle of the lion enclosure.

"Christine! Look at me!" Brennan call,s quickly snapping a photo when her daughter smiles.

The gorillas and orangutans are next and the boys have fun jumping around and pounding on their chests like the animals in front of them. And the kids laugh as the baby orangutan takes an interest in them and starting following them along the glass wall. They play with him and enjoy when he starts to mimic their movements.

Their last stop is the reptile house where there are more creatures to touch. All of the kids in Brennan's group touch and feel everything they can, including another snake and a bearded dragon. They somehow convince Brennan to touch the snake too, and once again cheer when she does.

"Not too fond of snakes?" the zookeeper asks.

"You could say that," Brennan nods.

"Glad you did it?"

"I am."

"Good. That's what this is all about."

And after a stop in the gift shop for a few treats, the group finds their class and gets ready to go home.

[] []

"We're home!" Brennan calls into the house.

"Hey! I was starting to get worried about you two," Booth says, coming out of the living room to meet them at the door. "Hey, Monkey!" He says, hugging her. "Did you have fun?"

"It was the best day ever! We saw the monkeys and the tigers and I got to go inside the lion cage. Mommy, show Daddy the picture! And we got stuck in traffic and the bus broke down and we had to wait _forever_ to get a new one. Oh! And, Daddy! Mommy touched a snake and she wasn't even scared!."

"Wow! You two had quite a day, didn't you?"

"It was quite fun," Brennan smiles.

"Well I'm glad," he says, kissing her. "Come on," he leads both girls into the living room and sits them down on the couch. "Did you say you went inside the lion cage and didn't get eaten?"

"Uh-huh!" Christine nods happily.

"Wow! Tell me about it."


	3. Week 3

**A/N: Week three of this thing was a pretty fun prompt all about nicknames and what everyone's (specifically Booth's) nickname is. The first part is set Season 2 and the second is set season 10.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

"Okay," Booth starts, pushing his way into Brennan's apartment the second she opens the door wide enough to get a leg inside. "I wasn't gonna do this. I mean it's really none of your damn business. But partners tell each other things, right?"

He's pacing around her living room now, and all Brennan can do is stare at him completely confused.

"What are you talking about?" she finally asks after his third trip back from her bookcase.

"That thing you were talking about with Angela in your office earlier. About nicknames."

"Why would you be so anxious to talk to me about your nickname? It pays little into our partnership. Unless it is embarrassing, in which case I'm certain it would be quite humorous." she smiles and starts to laugh.

"You know what, I was right. It's none of your damn business."

When he starts to leave, Brennan stops him. "Come on. You said it yourself 'partners tell each other things.' You can trust me. I promise to control my laughter."

"I don't know," he starts, still not sure if he should divulge his secret.

"I have beer." At the mention of drinks, Booth stays and follows Brennan into her kitchen.

He's halfway through his second bottle when he musters up the balls to start talking. "Okay. So you know how on sports teams the give each other nicknames like 'Tulo' or 'Sid the Kid'?"

"Yes. I don't understand how that connects to you."

"Well, I'm just saying it's a guy thing. A locker room thing. We joke and give each other horrible names."

"Okay. I think I'm with you."

"And me and Sully were at Quantico together. He was in the class after mine, but we all kind of knew each other. And-"

Brennan could tell how anxious and scared telling this story made Booth feel. So she changed the subject.

"Russ used to call me Jojo."

"What?" Booth asks, confused and stunned.

"My nickname. When we were kids, Russ called me Jojo. I assume it was because my name was Joy and he was a young child at the time. But even after we ran away and had to change our identities, he'd call me it. I remember waking up in the middle of the night with a nightmare. It was storming outside and the thunder and lightning was right on top of our house. I remember Russ coming into my room, crawling into bed with me and hugging me. He rubbed my hair and said 'It's okay, Jojo. It's just a storm'. He stayed with me until I fell asleep and the storm passed. When I woke up the next morning, he was gone. And over breakfast that next morning, he smiles at me and passed over the cereal, and that was it. We never talked about it ever again."

"Wow," Booth sighs, amazed at his partner and the layer of her onion she just peeled back. "I- thank you, Bones."

"You're welcome," she nods, standing. She collects their empty bottles and as she moves to throw them away, Booth starts again.

"They called me 'Two-Fry'. They guys. They called me 'Two-Fry'." He doesn't see her stop in her tracks; though she doesn't turn and look at him, afraid he'll clam up again if she does. "I was the best shot in my class and everyone knew it. I was always clean and accurate. A sharpshooter. I was like an outlaw in the Wild West; a bandit. And all bandits have cool names, right? I mean you've seen those old western movies. All those villains are so tough and amazing shots and have really epic names. So 'Two-Fry' was my cowboy name."

"That's no so bad of a nickname," Brennan starts, dropping the bottles into the trash. "Better than 'Shorty' or 'Stiff' or 'Dick'."

He laughs, relaxing a bit. "Yeah, you're right. It's better than 'Shoes' too."

Brennan gasps at the memory. "Hey! We had just met! I didn't know much about nicknames."

"I know. It just makes me laugh," he grins.

"Can we just forget that ever happened?"

"Nope. Never. It's stuck up here forever," he says, tapping on his head.

Brennan rolls her eyes and leans against the counter. "You want another drink?"

"Nah," Booth says, standing. "It's late. I should probably go."

"Oh. Okay, yeah," Brennan says, going to the door.

"Thanks for listening, Bones, I really appreciate it."

Brennan shrugs. "Partners tell each other things."

"Yeah, they do. I'll see you tomorrow, Bones."

"See you tomorrow," she echoes, watching him walk down the hallway before closing the door.

[] []

She finds him in their closet, standing on a chair. He's rummaging through a box on the top shelf, dust bunnies are stuck in his curls.

"What are you doing?"

He jumps at her voice and turns to look at her. "Oh. Hey. I'm looking for your old yearbooks."

"Why?"

"To see if they call you by your real name." He moves on to the next box and comes up triumphant. "Ah ha! Here they are!" He pulls out four thick books, each with a different design on the cover. He steps off the chair and leaves the closet. "Alright, let's see what we got here." He sits down on their bed, pulling the book onto his lap.

"You're not gonna find it in there," Angela says, sitting next to him. "Even in high school, I didn't go by my real name."

"What? Why?" He asks, bewildered.

"You heard it! It's horrible! Would you wanna go through the jungle of high school with that name?"

"No, I guess not."

"Aw, you're disappointed!" she sighs. "You actually thought my real name would be plastered all over those yearbooks, didn't you?"

"Yeah, I did," he pouts. Angela smiles and kisses his cheek. "You can still look if you want. There's a lot of horrible 90's looks in there. Even a few from yours truly. Here, start with this one." She hands him one of the books in the middle of the pile. The cover was filled with multicolored fireworks and written in the bottom corner, in neat cursive was 'Patapsco High School 1993-94'

Together they slowly flip through the book, past pages for the football team and marching band. Angela stops them on certain pages, pointing out old friends or favorite teachers.

On one page showing students eating lunch in the cafeteria, Angeal points to one girl sitting at a table, laughing with friends "That's me," she says.

"Oh my god! Babe! Look at you!" Jack exclaims. "You were so cute! And rocking those crimped pigtails."

"Don't laugh! I was a freshman! I didn't know the meaning of style yet."

"Alright, let me see your picture," he insists.

"Alright," she takes the book and flips past huge chunks of pages until she finds the one she wants. Angela folds it back halfway, keeping it secret. She laughs and looks at her husband before revealing her freshman year school photo.

"Oh my god!" Jack says, taking the book back. There she was, right between Kathleen Garvey, and Mateo Gomez, the same wide smile he's come to know and love well; the pigtails from the previous picture replaced with stick straight, side-parted hair held back with a single flower clip. The picture was in black and white, so he couldn't see what color her shirt was. And underneath it, was her name.

"Wait a minute. Who is 'Lucy'?" Hodgins asks, looking to his wife.

"I am. That's what I went by in middle and high school."

"How do you get 'Lucy' from Pookie Noodlin?"

"It didn't start out that way. My mom called me 'Pepper' all the time when I was a little kid. That 'Annie' movie had come out, you know the one with Carol Burnett, and apparently, I was a pretty sassy and feisty little kid, just like Pepper, so the name stuck. And that's what I went by all through Elementary school."

"Okay, I can see that. But where did 'Lucy' come from?"

"Well, in seventh grade I developed this love for the Peanuts, you know Charlie Brown, and one of the girls in there is named Lucy. And I kind of thought of her as the grown-up version of Pepper. So I changed my name. And everyone knew me as 'Lucy'.

"Okay."

"'Okay'? That's it?"

"Yup; that's it."

"Okay," Angela says, rolling her eyes and knocking into Hodgins' shoulder. "Here's another one of me," she says, flipping to the page featuring the softball teams. She points to the Junior Varsity team and to the girl in the back row.

"Still the tallest, I see," Hodgins smirks.

"Shut up," she retorts. "This was only my fourth year playing softball, so I only made JV, but it was so much fun."

"What number were you?"

"Um, for JV, I was 44 and on Varsity, I was 23."

"And you played the same position the entire time?"

"No, I alternated between second base, shortstop, and right field. It just depended on the year," she shrugs.

She closes the yearbook and pulls out another, this one from her sophomore year.

"What're you doing?" Michael Vincent asks, standing in his parent's bedroom doorway.

"Looking at old yearbooks. Come look at what momma looked like in high school," Hodgins says, beckoning their son in.

Michael scampers inside and onto his parent's bed, wriggling himself into his mom's lap. Once everyone is settled, Angela flips through the book, showing her son what school was like 'back in the day'.

"Whoa! Momma! Is that you?" Michael exclaims, pointing at Angela's picture.

"Uh-huh," Angela hums. "Crazy, right?"

"You look the same."

"Aw, thank you," Angela says, kissing her son and hugging him close. "You think I look the same here, check this out," she starts, closing the yearbook and grabbing another.

They spend the rest of the night flipping through yearbooks and reliving memories.


	4. Bonus Chapter

**A/N: So, many moons ago, back in Season Six, there was a scene showing Hodgins and Angela's time in Paris before getting called back to rescue Cam. Unfortunately, that scene got cut before it was even shot, so we will never know what they did in Paris. That is where this chapter comes in. This is my interpretation of what happened. It's a bonus chapter for the challenge, it's not connected to any prompt given, just something fun I thought you nerds would wanna read. Enjoy!**

 **Enjoy!**

 **Oh! And happy birthday, Michaela!**

* * *

Angela sat at her easel in one of the bedrooms of their apartment she had claimed as her studio, with the balcony doors thrown wide open, the hint of a breeze in the air tickled hairs across her face. She has a nearly unobstructed view of the Eiffel tower, and had intended on sketching the scene out her window, but instead spent the past twenty minutes daydreaming. She fiddles with the pencil in her hand, lost in another world. It's her husband's voice that brings her back.

"Hey! Whatcha drawing?"

Angela turns to look at him and shrugs. "Nothing."

"Need some inspiration?" He smirks, coming closer, pulling his t-shirt off over his head. She takes him in in one long scan; the hard plane of his abs, the muscles in his arms, his eyes that somehow shone a brighter shade of blue.

"I promised Brennan I'd bring her back a picture of the tower," Angela starts, strongly resisting the urge to grab her husband and kiss him senseless right then and there, "and the lighting here is amazing and -"

"Come on, Angela!" Jack says, stripping off the rest of his clothes and grabbing the chair in the corner of the room. He sets it next to the window and stands on it, posing like a model. "Draw me like one of your 'French Girls'."

Angela laughs at that, big and loud, her smile wide. "Shouldn't I be the one who says that? Considering you're 'Jack' and all?"

"Well, you would, but we both know it would never turn out as good as yours," Hodgins agrees, reminding them both of his inability to draw anything better than a detailed stick figure.

Angela smiles, not meeting his eyes for a moment. "Okay," she says, picking up her pencil once again. "Hold still."

Jack strikes a pose and watches as his wife starts drawing.

Fifteen minutes later, with a lot of starting and stopping and erasing and furrowed eyebrows from Angela, Hodgins was still in the same position, and his arm was asleep.

"Are you done yet?" He asks for the tenth time.

"Hold still!" she insists.

"Sorry," he apologizes, trying to not move. And he's back to waiting.

And waiting.

And waiting.

"Okay. I am done." With one final flourish, Angela sets down her pencil. "Wanna see?"

"Sure." And for the first time in nearly half an hour, Jack steps off the chair and instantly feels the buzz and pins and needles as his extremities regain proper circulation. "Ah!" he hisses, limping for a step.

She grabs him by the arm and pulls him closer, kissing him one as payment for being her model. "Look," she whispers, turning her head back to the drawing.

He looks, expecting to see his face staring back, but drops his jaw at what is on the page. "Hey! What is this?"

On the page is a near perfect rendering of the scene out the window: buildings, windows, flowers, the piece of the river and finally, in the background, the Eiffel Tower; all drawn in crisp black lines.

"It's the picture I promised Brennan," she says, totally serious. She gives him a look as if to say 'what did you think it was gonna be?'

"Them what the hell was I doing standing up there naked for?" Jack shouts.

"Giving me inspiration," she smiles, looking through her eyelashes at him.

"Angela," he says, backing her, one step at a time, into the dresser behind her. And when the backs of her legs hit the wood and she has nowhere else to go, Angela knows he's got her.

"No," she laughs right as he grabs her and kisses her before going for that spot under her collarbone that gets her every time. When her knees go out from under her, Angela is glad he right there to keep her upright. "I'm sorry."

"You're gonna get it," he growls.

"Oh, yeah?

"Yeah."

He has his hand under her shirt, fingers splayed across her stomach when her cell phone rings.

"Let it go to voicemail," he directs, getting her attention back with a kiss. It stops ringing a moment later, leaving their breathing and the cars and people on the street below the only sounds in the room.

Until his phone rings.

"Answer it," Angela insists. "Must be important if they're calling both of us."

He crosses the room, grabbing his phone out of his shorts pocket.

"Hello? Caroline? Hold on." he quickly puts it on speakerphone so they both can listen.

 _"Cher, I need you and that pretty artist of yours to get back here as fast as you can, we have a major problem."_

"What kind of problem?" Angela asks.

 _"Let's just say that if you two do not get back here and help her, Cam is going to be digging herself deeper into her own grave."_

Jack and Angela share a look, engaging in a silent conversation. After a moment, he nods, knowing they are in agreement. "We're on our way."

A day later they are on a plane back to DC to help their friend.

Two days later they are in a dingy basement morgue working a case involving a dead boy.

Three days later they are walking down the street when she stops him and announces that she is pregnant and wants to stay in DC indefinitely.


	5. Week 7

**A/N: Here's a fun, fluffy little thing for this week's challenge. It's set season 8/9. Hope you like it!**

 **Oh! and for my 'Merica peeps: Happy 4th!**

* * *

"This might burn a little."

"Ah! God, Bones! A little warning would have been nice!"

"Sorry, but this should teach you not to work in the yard barefoot," Brennan says, cleaning out the cut on Booth's foot.

"Well, who the hell else is gonna finish that treehouse? And it's too hot for shoes."

"You could always pay someone to finish it for you."

"Why would I do that when I can do it just fine on my own?"

"You make a valid point. Now, hold still," she spreads cream over the cut and covers it with the only band-aid they had: Minion printed that Christine had received from her cousin Michael for her birthday. "There: all done."

"Thanks, Bones," Booth says, kissing her. He stands and limps the few steps out of the bathroom, pausing in the doorway. "It's quiet."

His statement makes Brennan stop and listen as well. "Too quiet."

The adults rush out of the bathroom and back into the living room where they had left Christine playing so good with her toys while her parents got some housework done. But the room was empty, the only sign a little girl had been there was the tea set and a few baby dolls lying on the rug.

"Christine?" Brennan calls, looking in all the usual places she could be hidden.

"Christine?" Booth asks, moving in the opposite direction to the kitchen. He rounds the counter and stops. "Bones, I found her!" he stage-whispers, getting his girlfriend's attention and motioning her over.

"Where?" Brennan asks, getting closer. Booth points and Brennan smiles.

Christine stands in front of the open pantry, where her mom had been not five minutes prior cleaning it out, a jar of peanut butter almost as big as she is in her hands. She's dipping her fingers in and pulls out globs of the stuff, which promptly goes into her mouth. And everywhere else she can reach. The counter behind her. The cabinets. The floor. Her hair. Her neck. Her arms. Her dress. There's even some on the tops of her feet, which her parents don't even want to know how it got there.

"Alright, that's enough," Booth says, grabbing the jar out of her hands, to which Christine yells and starts crying at. "No, don't start on that," Booth says, picking her up and sitting her on the counter. "You know you're not supposed to be in there without mommy or me." Christine's cries slow to hiccups and she nods, knowing she did wrong and is in trouble. "Now, say sorry to mommy for eating her peanut butter."

"Sorry, mommy," Christine says, tears still in her eyes.

"It's alright, sweetheart," Brennan smiles softly, smoothing out her hair.

"Good. Now, let's go take a bath before Grandpa gets here, huh?" Booth says, scooping her up again and turning for the stairs.

A few hours later, when Max arrives to watch Christine while her parents have Date Night, off his questioning look at his freshly bathed granddaughter, Booth shrugs and explains the events of that afternoon.

"And that's why the Monkey was covered in peanut butter."


	6. Week 8

**A/N: Here's week 8! It was fun one, and, no pun intended, a challenge. This weeks prompt was and 'Anything Goes' drabble challenge. 5 drabbles that can be about any topic or character or time period, but they must connect. I know for sure I went over on a few, but nothing too bad.** **I'm hoping to expand on this story a lot. 'When' is the big question here. Pester me if you want more, please.**

 **Set Season 12**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Up before the sun, the newlyweds load up their car and head for the airport, through security, and to their flight's gate. They hold hands the entire flight, going into light, fitful naps that don't make up for the lack of sleep the previous night. As they land, he meets her eyes and smiles.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

The rental car line is long, but they eventually get the keys and are off to their hotel.

Once in the room, they have just enough time to freshen up before meeting their case manager.

[] []

His office is covered in pictures of smiling families and were it not for his profession, the couple would have definitely marked him a creep. They sit on hard chairs in front of his desk and sign final paperwork while someone collects the boys from school.

"They're almost here," he says, checking his phone.

She hears them come in, a storm of noise and happiness, and swallows hard, grabbing her husband's hand. The last few seconds last an eternity.

But the running hug he gets from their youngest boy instantly takes away all their nerves.

"Hey, buddy!"

[] []

They spend the first night playing at the hotel pool, she sits back and observes, getting to know her boys; already so in love.

Tyler, the eldest, tough, protective, bossy, loving. The last to fall into their family.

Isaiah, the middle, smart, bookish, kind, cuddly, hates water in his face. Quickly bonds with his new momma.

Jordan, the baby, and instant 'Daddy's Boy', cheeky, clever, sly, sweet smile. The first to declare them a family.

Arastoo settles their fight over the bathroom, sending Jordan into the corner to cool off.

Eventually, they all get tucked into bed.

"I love you."

[] []

They spend the weekend in Mississippi, running all sorts of errands and spending time together. He'll never forget the look on his son's' faces when they walked into the mall and he told them they could get whatever they wanted. All four boys came out sugar high with brand new wardrobes; Cam was just exhausted.

Somehow, they found a Middle Eastern restaurant where Arastoo took them to dinner for their last night. And afterward, Camm schooled them all in a game of Horse at a nearby park.

One last swim before bedtime and an early wake up for their flight home.

[] []

The next morning, everyone was grumpy. In the car, through security, to the gate, on the plane.

But by the time they landed in DC, moods had changed, and all three boys were excitedly looking out the windows at the sights on the ground.

Collecting bags, finding their car out in the lot, nearly losing the keys in the process, driving home. Pulling into the driveway for the first time.

"Welcome Home!"

In true fashion, they were all there: sibling, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, friends. Counters full of food, gifts for the boys.

The best way to welcome them home.


	7. Week 9

**A/N: So this week's challenge was really fun to write. It was a 'Past Connections' challenge.** "What if various Bones characters have met in the past just for a moment in time? Some remember later some don't." **The timeline has been played around with a bit, just so you know.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Preparations were being made to welcome the new baby home. The whole house had been scrubbed from top to bottom, old toys were given away to a women's and children's shelter and replaced with new ones acquired from both a birthday party and an excited aunt who was more than willing to pass down her son's old favorites to his new cousin.

Christine, jealous her new brother was getting his room painted, cheered happily when her auntie Angela paused from painting the mural in the baby's nursery, grabbed her paints, and walked down the hall to her newly redecorated bedroom where she found a blank piece of wall and turned the light purple canvas into a magical night sky with stars and the moon and fairies and even Peter Pan's silhouette. And while the paint was drying, Angela grabbed her goddaughter's hand, led her back into the other room and included her in the creation of her brother's mural.

Brennan, during all of this, had been clearing out and organizing the bedroom's closet that was full of boxes that had been hastily shoved in there during the frantic, last minute, move the previous spring.

Sensing movement out of the corner of her eye, Angela turned to see Brennan carrying a pile of boxes out of the room. "Do you need help?" she asks.

"No, I've got it," Brennan says, shaking her head. And not a second later, the tattered shoe box that topped the pile slid to the side and tumbled to the ground, dumping its contents everywhere. "Damn it!" Brennan cursed loudly, not caring about the little girl in the room.

"I got it," Angela says, coming to help clean up. The box was full of photographs, which Angela shuffled back into a neat pile and stacked back into the box. The task went quickly until one picture caught her eye. The school photo had yellowed slightly with age and was crumpled a bit, but Angela recognized it instantly. "Why do you have a picture of my fourth-grade class?" She asks, furrowing her brow and looking up a Brennan.

"What? No, that's my fourth-grade class," Brennan insists, grabbing the photo. "See? There I am," she says, pointing to her younger self standing in the back row of the class with the other tall kids.

"Yeah, and that's me," Angela says, touching herself in the photo; the equally tall girl was unknowingly standing right next to her future best friend. "Oh my god!" Angela gasped, slapping a hand over her mouth. "How is it we were in the exact same fourth-grade class and not remember it?"

"Well we were children, our brains weren't fully developed. That memory may have been forgotten, or pushed into our subconscious and not remembered until this sense memory brought it back. Not to mention we've both changed a lot since the fourth grade, we look different."

"Yeah, maybe," Angela says shaking her head. "Christine! Come here, I wanna show you something." Once the paint covered girl was at her side, Angela held up the picture. "Do you wanna see what you mom and I looked like as kids?" At her nod, she pointed to the two girls standing next to each other in the back row. "That's us."

"No, it's not!" Christine shouts, surprised and unsure.

"Yes, it is. And wanna know something funny? We don't remember taking this picture or being friends."

"That's crazy!" Christine says, not believing her mom and aunt had not been friends or that they were kids just like her at one time.

"It is," Angela nods.

"Can I keep it?"

The moms look at each other, sharing a quick, silent conversation.

"Sure you can," Brennan smiles. "We'll put it in a frame and set it somewhere in your room, okay?" Of her daughter's nod, Brennan sets the picture aside and turns back to the pile she had been dealing with.

"Come on," Angela says, going back to the nearly finished mural. "Let's get this finished so we can go swimming, okay?"

[] []

 _Fall 1984_

Picture day was in full swing at Johnson Elementary School. All seven grades (Kindergarten through sixth) cycled through the gym where a set of risers was set up, each class was arranged just so on the steps where the skilled photographer snapped their picture and sent them onto the small stage and behind a wall to have individual photos taken.

Before they could be sent to recess, Mrs. Howell's fourth-grade class had their turn for pictures. The veteran teacher stopped her class in the hallway outside the gym and set them in line according to height. "Okay, Bobby is first, then James, Jennifer, Alex, Cody, Pepper, Temperance and Joseph," she started listing off the tallest students in her class and putting them into line. She continued through the whole class, ending with Anna, the smallest. Once everyone was ready, she led them into the room and onto the risers, "Girls!" she scolds at two of her students on the top row. "No more playing around." Pepper and Temperance had formed a fast friendship and were usually in trouble for talking and playing when they should be paying attention to the lesson.

"Sorry, Mrs. Howell," the girls apologize.

"Alright! And if I could have Teacher go here, I think we're ready," the photographer cheers. "Everyone ready? Okay, look here and say 'Macaroni and Cheese!'"

And a second later, the camera clicks.


End file.
